


Teenagers

by TealrootsG



Category: My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance (Album)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24644590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TealrootsG/pseuds/TealrootsG
Summary: [high school au]Almost immediately, Gerard develops a crush on the new boy in school, who just so happens to be in most of his classes. And not to mention, he's the most adorable boy Gerard has ever laid eyes on, so he couldn't help wanting to know him better.
Relationships: Brendon Urie/Dallon Weekes, Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Due to being basically a child, and not quite an adult, Gerard was still attending school, despite how much he wished to leave. Luckily, he only had one year left, and couldn't wait to get it over with.

Unfortunately, because he'd had a relatively easy year last year of a time table filled with literally nothing but art, photography, maths and a creative media apprenticeship, this year was going to suck ass. To look forward to, he had maths, the same ongoing apprenticeship, art, music and German.

Despite the fact that previously Gerard had only had four subjects, it was a lot for his mind to handle. He wasn't good at concentration, and matters always affect more than they should.

In addition, Gerard quite literally despised himself. For a boy, his voice was fairly high pitched, and he was very self-conscious about it, causing him to barely talk at all. He thought his face was too round, too feminine, and altogether disgusting to look at. He hated how his figure was rather feminine too, so he disguised it in layers and layers of clothing.

On top of all that, Gerard had severe anxiety about everything. If there was something to worry about, he'd obsess over it until his mind tormented him to the point where he felt numb and no longer cared –even though a voice in the back of his head would scream at him to get his life sorted.

Also, as if it couldn't get any worse, Gerard had been bullied in to depression, which only got worse every minute he breathed.

However, all that was in the past. Since being tortured by fellow class mates, Gerard's parents had decided to relocate him and his brother to New Jersey. That had lifted his spirits, while simultaneously crushing his confidence because he had to attend a new school with brand new potential dickheads.

Regardless that there wasn't anyone being directly rude to him in this new environment, Gerard still worried. All day, every day, he felt like everyone was watching him, like there was a spotlight constantly shining in his eyes. And it wasn't fun. It was tiring. A constant fear weighing on his shoulders all the fucking time.

Nothing helped.

Furthermore, he'd discovered there was going to be a new person joining him to the ride to the college for the creative media apprenticeship. Usually, like it had been for the past several months, it was just him in the taxi. Simply going to the apprenticeship was scary enough, now they had to add another person to the journey?

Come Monday afternoon, Gerard sat at reception for a good twenty minutes, waiting for the taxi, absentmindedly scratching at the skin on his knuckles. No one else seemed to be waiting for the same thing, so that calmed a few of his nerves.

There were only nattering receptionists, and the sound of other numerous classes taking place throughout the huge building. Their school was relatively modern, so there were lots of open spaces and windows.

Finally, the taxi arrived, and Gerard hastily signed off before rushing out to the car. They were going to be late as the taxi driver hadn't arrived on time. That piled on more anxiety.

Just as Gerard fastened his seatbelt, he spotted a figure out of the corner of his eye, hurtling towards the taxi as they waved, "Wait!"

Oh no. Gerard's heart skipped a beat. So there was going to be another student tagging along after all. Fuck.

The boy offered a lop-sided grin as he ducked in to the car, right across from Gerard, who pulled his bag close to his chest like a shield.

"Sorry." The boy panted, shooting an apologetic glance at the taxi driver. "I forgot I had to come."

Even though the boy seemed goofily cute, Gerard sort of wished he hadn't come. He detested being around other people because that meant they could see him, and if they could see him, they could see his face, and Gerard hated his face.

The taxi driver muttered a reply, then pulled out of the school's car park.

Once Gerard's breathing had returned to a somewhat normal rhythm as he got used to there being another guy in the vehicle, he shot a quick glance at him.

Thank God the boy was gazing out of the window, because Gerard started to stare.

Gerard didn't think he himself was much to look at. Greasy hair, a stupid upturned nose and blemished skin. And braces railed along his small teeth -fucking braces, as if he couldn't get any more awful.

However, the boy sat across from him was beautiful. He had slightly tanned skin -a one-up from Gerard's freakishly pale skin, so pale he appeared almost blue sometimes. The boy had a sharp jaw line, accompanied by gorgeous hazel eyes and soft brown hair.

Damn, Gerard had to admit, he was extremely pretty.

Eventually, the boy caught Gerard staring, a smile tugging at his lips. "Hi."

Oh, fuck. Gerard couldn't manage any words, so he just smiled sheepishly, a blush creeping up his neck.

"I'm Frank." The boy held out a hand in more of a joking manner than formal.

"Uhm." Gerard felt his face heat up in embarrassment. He hoped Frank didn't know how long he'd been unintentionally gaping for. Shaking hands, his voice cracked as he spoke, "Gerard."

Their hands dropped, and it fell awkwardly silent. Only the low hum of the car and the quiet music on the radio for background noise. The taxi driver wasn't exactly chatty either.

For the entire drive, Gerard was on edge, jerking his leg up and down. He wished he could melt in to the air because adorable boys intimidated him –to be fair anyone intimidated him.

Once they got to the college, Gerard jumped out, and began speed walking towards the building. If he were a cartoon, there would have been dust clouds. It wasn't that he wanted to be rude to the new boy, he was just terrified of communication.

Though when he got to the doors, he sighed deeply, slowly realising Frank had no idea where to go, as it was his first time here. Well, shit.

Taking a deep breath, Gerard paused by the entrance, waiting for Frank to catch up, which he did with unsteady steps and Gerard forgot to include the fact Frank might be scared too.

"Uh, hey." Gerard said quietly, an apologetic expression washing over his features.

Glancing up, Frank managed a smile. "Hi."

"Your-your first time here?" He stuttered, hoping that Frank wouldn't pick upon his nerves, although he was sure they were fairly obvious.

Chewing his cheek, he nodded. "Yeah, I thought it'd be a bit of fun."

"It's not." Gerard confessed with a small laugh. "It's, uhm-" the most tedious thing in the world. "A lot of writing."

"Oh." He shrugged, trying to keep a positive attitude. Maybe the name Creative Media threw him of course in to thinking there was going to be actual graphic design involved, not writing.

Pressing his lips in to a thin line, Gerard gestured for Frank to follow, then trudged inside.

They passed the reception desk, trailed through a few hallways, passed the unisex toilets, then turned one final corner before reaching the second circle of hell.

The building had a new system installed, meaning that every door had to be opened with a key code, and funnily enough the students weren't allowed to know the key code. Really, it was ridiculous.

Hesitantly, Gerard knocked, not daring to look over at Frank because he knew he'd blush again.

"Ah, Gerard." The teacher –Mr Joseph- sighed, pulling the door open. "You're late."

Quietly, he nodded and rushed to his seat before anyone could see his face, hiding behind his hair.

"And-you must be Frank." Mr Joseph ushered him in, putting his hands on his shoulders to lead him to the front of the class, which Frank looked really uncomfortable with, and Gerard didn't blame him. "Alright, you littledelinquents, this is Frank Iero, he's new to New Jersey, so be nice."

Meekly, Frank gave the class a little wave as his face turned red. Everyone sort of nodded to acknowledge his existence, nothing more because they couldn't have cared less if someone was new. Though there were these two students in theback who loved meeting new potential friends.

Dallon and Brendon. Admittedly, when he'd first arrived, Gerard had had the smallest crush on Dallon. He was just so adorable with his fluffy hair and cheekbones. But you couldn't get too near Dallon without Brendon being there.They were protective over each other, and it was somewhat cute.

"Hi, Frank." Brendon returned the wave, though a bit more enthusiastically. "Don't worry if no one else says hi, they've all got sticks up their asses."

For some reason, Frank's eyes flickered to Gerard at those words, and Gerard grew afraid that he had been rude earlier.

"Noted." Frank chuckled, eyes crinkling up in the corners.

"There's an empty seat next to Gerard. Sit there." Mr Joseph said shortly, pointing directly at him.

"Okay." He ambled over, slouching in the correct chair. Luckily, Dallon and Brendon were sat opposite them, and were already leaning over the desk, eager to learn about the new kid.

"Mr Iero." Dallon saluted. "Why'd you decide to come to this hell hole?"

"Uhm." Frank smiled nervously, running his fingers through his long dark hair."It was either this or cooking, and last time I cooked, I set a pan on fire."

Raising a hand to cover his mouth, Gerard smiled.

"Would you mind setting a computer on fire, so we can leave?" Brendon joked, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, lessons are so boring, we could use a bit of fun."

"No?"

"Aw." He sat back, tapping a pencil on the desk. "Let me know if you change your mind."

"Will do."

-

Despite all efforts to mind his own business and keep quiet, Gerard had listened in on their conversation, having nothing else to occupy his buzzing mind.

"I don't think Mr Joseph is all that bad." Dallon shrugged half-heartedly, resting his elbows on the table. "I mean, yeah, sure, he's mostly annoying, and takes all the fun out of Digital Media-"

"Is that all?" Frank chuckled, raising his eyebrows. "I think sucking the life out of a subject people love qualifies for you to be classified as bad."

"Well," Brendon chewed his cheek, desperately searching for the some good qualities. "If it's your birthday, he brings in cake, though I guess that'sliterally the only perk to coming to these lessons."

Beside him, Dallon coughed loudly.

"Right." He added, jabbing a thumb in Dallon's direction. "And the fact I get to see this loser."

"Oi." Dallon scoffed, ruffling Brendon's hair to mess it up, which was not appreciated as it had taken a solid half an hour in the morning to achieve his quiff.

"You can't outside of school?" Frank furrowed his brows, and they shook their heads. "Why?"

"This programme reaches out to people all over, and I don't live in Bellville. It's an hour and a half drive to get here." Brendon sighed dejectedly, folding his arms over his chest.

"Jesus." He frowned, "That sucks."

"Let's not ruin your first day with crappy news though." Brendon cheered up abit, and sat forwards, his dazzling eyes obviously full of mischief. "Where are-"

"Lads, less talking, more working." Mr Joseph interjected, straightening up in his chair to see over the sea of students' heads to get to Brendon, who flashed a sarcastic smile and waved.

"Will do, sir."

Dallon spoke under his breath. "Seriously, Frank, anytime you wanna set a computer on fire?"

Biting his lip, he actually considered the idea. "Not yet."

-

At the end of the day, when he got home, Gerard was desperate to tell someone about the adorable new boy in school, though he didn't have any friends, and he'd rather die before telling his parents or brother. They weren't the most talkative family, or the most accepting.

How Gerard grew up accepting everyone regardless their gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or culture, he did not know because his parents had strong opinions on each of those topics.

However, as Gerard dumped his bags by the door, then skulked down to the basement, also known as his bedroom; he momentarily considered texting a random stranger on the internet just to have someone to chat to.

Ultimately, he discarded all ideas, and flopped on to his bed, failing to move for the remainder of the evening.


	2. Chapter 2

Fortunately for Gerard, in addition to joining his Creative Media apprenticeship, Frank was also going to be sitting next to him in art class. That information almost gave him a bloody heart attack.

It was first lesson on a Tuesday, which was usually one of the better days of the week because he had a double period of art. No one ever sat near him, claiming he was too strange to be around, so he had a whole table to himself. Admittedly, Gerard didn't know whether to feel embarrassed, upset, or relieved.

Due to lack of better judgement, Gerard supposed, because he could automatically kill anyone's social life, Frank innocently moseyed over, and dumped his bag on the table opposite Gerard, who's eyes widened to the size of the moon.

"Hey." Frank greeted warmly, sliding off his leather jacket to drape it over the back of the chair.

"Hi." Gerard swallowed the lump in his throat, a smile tugging at the corners of his chapped lips. Honestly, he was thrilled Frank was here. Now he wouldn't seem like the loner that everyone knew he was, and it gave him a chance to get to know the boy better.

"Joy doesn't get sucked out of this lesson, too, does it?" He asked, digging his art supplies out of his bag. He filed through his graphite pencils, mainly for something to do other than stare at Gerard and inevitably come off as a bit of a creep.

Offering a weak smile, Gerard shook his head. "Linds-I-I mean, Miss Ballato is my favourite teacher. She's really kind."

"Cool." He grinned. "What have you done so far in this class?" The fact he was new meant Frank had missed a month of the year already. Their school began in August, and they were already a week in to September.

"We, uhm," he carded his fingers through his hair nervously, feeling heat slowly rise to his cheeks to tint them red, which annoyingly contrasted against his snow-white skin. "We have to pick a theme for our project, and do various studies of-of whatever subject matter you've picked, then do a final piece at the-at the end."

"Doesn't sound too hard, I guess." Frank let out a deep breath, instantly regretting his words, hands falling in his lap as he glared at the A4 paper already set out on the desk. His brows furrowed as he glanced up through his shaggy hair. "Is there a list? What theme do I choose?"

"A-anything you want."

Well, that made it ten times harder because Frank had no imagination when it came to art, mind running blank. He chewed his cheek in thought, "I literally have no idea what my theme could be."

Gerard felt a little sorry for him, as he'd been in that exact place a few weeks ago.

"What're you doing?" Frank asked, sneakily peering over Gerard's arm to see what he was drawing.

Truthfully, Gerard was scared of people looking at his work because if he himself didn't like it, then no one else would. Over the years, his skills had certainly improved, but he didn't see it that way as he was a bit of a perfectionist, and got insanely frustrated when things didn't look the way he wanted them to.

Hesitantly, Gerard moved his arm so Frank could see. "Expressions." He muttered quietly, willing himself to keep the conversation going and not screw it up. "I'm drawing, uhm, Remington Leith from Palaye Royale. I convinced Miss to let me study him. We're supposed to draw ourselves or use a model, but I-I couldn't do that."

"Oh, that's rad." He beamed, surprised at how accurate Gerard's sketches were. "You like Palaye?"

Stunned that someone else knew who they were, he nodded eagerly. "Do you?"

"Definitely." Frank shifted in his seat, sitting up straighter as he rested his elbows on the table. "D'you know they're touring next year for their new album? I wish I could go, but, like, my parents. . ." He trailed off, casting his gaze to the floor.

They settled in to an awkward silence, where Frank uneasily cleared his throat, and Gerard prayed for his mouth form words. Any words would do.

Thankfully, allowing them both to relax, Mrs Ballato wandered over to greet Frank, seeing as she hadn't explained their assignment yet, though Gerard had helped a little with that.

"Frank, I believe." She smiled at Frank, who raised his eyebrows, shooting a side-glance at Gerard, who also smiled sheepishly.

Miss Ballato appeared as if she should have been the student, not the teacher. She had pitch-black hair, tied in to two pigtails at her shoulders, short strands curling around her neck. She wore a dark red waistcoat, which she'd paired with a tartan skirt and a matching striped tie. Even though she had bands and leather cuffs around her wrists to cover them up, Frank would see her tattoos.

"Hi." Frank returned the smile as she sat in the chair beside him to explain the year's assignment.

Gerard zoned out while they talked, immersing himself in his own work. Occasionally, he glanced over to see what they were doing. After a few minutes of discussion and suggestions, he saw Frank had chosen "cityscapes" as a theme with help from Miss Ballato. Honestly, Gerard couldn't wait to see what Frank created as an artist.

At long last, the bell rang, jolting fear in to Gerard's bones as he'd have to scurry through herds of teenagers in order to get to next lesson, which was one of the most terrifying things about school. In all fairness, Gerard was rather short, and everyone else usually towered over him like human skyscrapers.

"Hey," Frank tapped Gerard's shoulder just as he was about to grab his paint-stained satchel and scram. "What's your next lesson, maybe we can walk together? I don't know the building very well."

Okay, maybe he wasn't going to be completely alone. A smile plastered itself across Gerard's face, and he felt a small weight being lifted off his chest. "Yeah, sure. I have, uhm," he bit his lip, "maths, I think."

"Great." Frank nodded. "Me too."

In a meagre attempt to demolish the rampaging students in the halls, the school had created a shitty one-way system, which did not work at all. Instead, it made nearly everyone late to lesson, or gave slackers an excuse to be late, and transformed the halls from a fighting ground in to one big wave of people. Amongst the huge wave were Gerard and Frank, who were practically being crushed.

"What the fuck?" Frank elbowed someone out of the way, as they barged past, causing him to trip up.

"Are you okay?" Gerard asked, barely surviving himself. So far, he'd had two jabs to the ribs, and an elbow in the head. Really, it was nothing new. Even a teacher had been pushed over once.

Their building was quite huge, though the capacity of students it could hold was way below how many actually attended. In another futile attempt to squander the crowds was that they'd built four extra blocks on school grounds –one served as the pe hall, another for technology, a library, and one for art and design.

"Yeah." Frank sighed, adjusting the strap of his bag that'd been knocked off his shoulder. "Is it always this busy?"

"Always." Gerard mumbled dejectedly.

There were also certain entrances and exists that students were and weren't allowed to use. Frank and Gerard had just come in from the art block through one of the side doors, and were currently passing two sets of stairs.

"We go up here?" Frank asked, heading for the doors to the stairwell.

Gently, Gerard grabbed his arm to pull him back. "We're not allowed up those, they're for coming down."

"Oh." Frank furrowed his brows, trying to see over the heads of other students. "So we gotta go all the way around to get up the other stairs?"

"Yeah, it sucks."

"That's bullshit." Frank huffed, and stopped in his tracks for a moment, which deemed a big mistake as Gerard came to a halt too, wondering what the hell he was doing, and they were almost trampled.

To avoid death by teenagers, Frank hooked his arm with Gerard's to guide him along as he turned around and pushed his way through oncoming traffic to get to the doors to the stairwell.

"Frank-"

Shoving the doors open, he pulled Gerard through, and they shuffled to the side to avoid being seen.

"Are you mental? We can't go up here, we'll get yelled at." Gerard shouted in a whisper, eyes wide.

"Not if we don't get caught." Frank smirked slightly, raising his eyebrows. "You coming?"

Taking a deep breath, Gerard narrowed his gaze. Two days he'd known this boy, and already he was allowing him to drag him in to trouble. Normally, Gerard did everything in his power not to be noticed, but Frank was changing that –even if it was with something as harmless as taking the wrong stairs.

"If we get detention, I'm blaming you."

"That's okay." That goofy smile returned to his lips, and he gestured for Gerard to lead the way. "I guess it'd be my fault anyway, but to be fair, by going with me, you're agreeing with me that this one-way thing is bullshit."

"I never said I didn't agree in the first place." Gerard chuckled quietly, steadily climbing the steps. "I resent the system, but I do it quietly. Cleary, you don't."

"Yeah, I'm not one for crappy rules."

They came to a bend in the stairs, and Frank peered around the corner first to check there weren't any teachers, then swaggered up the rest of the way. When they reached the top, that familiar cacophony of students' loud voices returned, much to their dismay. With voices came people; with people came the fear of being crushed in an impossibly narrow hallway.

Frank put a hand on the door and hesitated, turning to Gerard, who also wasn't very keen to get a move on. "What if we skipped maths?"

Gerard's eyebrows just about shot off his head. "This is your second day, we can't skive."

"Ugh," he groaned dramatically, running a hand down his face. "I guess you're right."

Pressing his lips in to a thin line, Gerard went to pull the door open for them instead; however, Frank put a hand over his so he couldn't.

"Are you super sure? We can't hide out up there?"

Above them, Frank had spotted there was a bell tower, and another flight of stairs that they could in fact hide in and go unnoticed for the remainder of the day.

"I'm super-duper sure." Gerard nodded, anxious enough that they were going to be late for lesson. "Anyway, rumour is the-the bell tower is haunted."

"Haunted?" Frank scoffed, only two percent afraid of ghosts that may or may not exist.

"Apparently." He shrugged. "You can find out later if you really want to know, but we have to go now."

"Alright." Frank caved, following Gerard out of the door, down the less crowded hall, and towards their maths room: U16.

"We will have to one day though." Frank suggested as they walked.

"Have to-have to what?" Gerard got feeling Frank was about to propose they break more rules.

"Go up in to the bell tower." A smile tugged at his pale pink lips, and for the first time, it registered in Gerard's mind that Frank had a lip ring, which caused his gaze to linger for a few seconds longer.

Scratching the back of his neck, Gerard shook his head. "Maybe."

"Come on." Frank nudged him playfully in the ribs. "It could be fun. Plus, I'm a master at these kinds of things."

"The master, huh?" Gerard giggled as they rounded another corner. "I-I suppose you do these kinds of things often?"

"Like I said," Frank paused for dramatic effect, putting a hand to his chest. "I'm not one for crappy rules."

[Published 11 June 2020]


	3. Chapter 3

Apparently, despite all evidence given from the past, Gerard wasn't as much of a social barrier as he thought. By Frank's fifth day in school, also known as the eight secret circle of hell, people had already started to take a liking to the new kid.

They'd spent all previous days together as Gerard had shown him around school, whilst he also made sure they avoided every one that would surely tease him. Though they hadn't been successful in dodging other students forever, and a few had striked up conversations with Frank, and Gerard had stood behind him, using him as a human shield.

Honestly, Gerard wasn't too surprised that he might become popular; Frank seemed to be kind and sweet, in an adorably goofy way.

Head down, hands nervously gripping the strap of his satchel, Gerard speed walked through the school gates, trying to avoid anyone and everyone.

Each day was a battle to charge through swarms of students venturing around the school yard, and he despised it.

Annoyingly, the one single person he didn't want to avoid was Frank, however Frank was stood at the library, surrounded by a small crowd of teenagers.

Ironically, Gerard was afraid of teenagers.

Leaning against the wall, Frank was playing with his lip ring absentmindedly, hair shagged than ever. He was wearing a smart leather jacket, despite the hot weather, and blue jeans that had rips at the knees.

Upon further inspection, Gerard saw a few were chatting amongst themselves, and Frank was only talking to two out of ten people. Thank fuck.

Gerard hadn't realised he'd come to a halt, squinting at them as he balanced on the curb of the drive, until Frank caught his eye and waved him over.

A giddy smile was plastered across his face, and when Gerard's legs failed to move any closer, Frank waltzed over, his soft hair hiding his sparkling eyes.

"Come on, Gee, you're not gonna stand here all day, are you?" He hooked his arm with Gerard's, guiding him over to the people he'd been chatting to previously.

"I-I suppose not." Gerard swallowed the lump in his throat, eyes wide as they approached Frank's newfound friends. See, Gerard was great at any basic human interaction.

One of the boys Frank had been talking to offered a kind smile, which Gerard tried -and probably failed- to return. "Hi, I'm Andy."

The boy held his hand out to shake, which Gerard did, though he had to wipe his slightly sweaty palms on his faded grey jeans first.

Truth be told, nerves aside, Andy didn't seem too intimidating, regardless of his many piercings, striking dark clothes that contrasted against his pale skin, and thick black hair that passed his shoulders. The shirt he was wearing had a neckline so low that it showed most of his chest, and his skinny jeans were ripped all over, fraying at the edges.

Gerard nodded politely, brows knitted together with worry as he hoped he didn't come off as too socially awkward. He couldn't help but feel anxiety creep in to his plagued mind.

Then Frank gestured to the second boy, who was sporting a tweed jacket and blue jeans. He had light brown hair and a lovely smile. "I'm Owen."

"Hey." Gerard managed, eyes darting nervously to the floor as he shuffled on the spot.

"And this is Gerard." Frank spoke up when Gerard failed to introduce himself, draping an arm around his shoulders. "Isn't he cute?"

A blush creeping up his neck, Gerard's eyes widened. He'd never been called cute, and therefore didn't register Andy or Owen's answers and blinked hard, trying to make sure he'd heard correctly.

Heart pounding in his chest, he tried to communicate with Frank through telekinesis because he currently wanted to disappear.

Fortunately, cutting the air that had been thick with a steadily growing awkwardness, the bell rang, signalling their first lesson was about to start.

Andy and Owen had their lessons on the opposite side of the grounds to Frank and Gerard, who felt he could finally relax a little when they walked away after saying goodbye.

"Maths again, is it?" Frank groaned, running a hand down his face. He couldn't solve an equation to save his life, even if he had a gun pointed at his temple and the only way to save the world was to find x.

"Sadly." Gerard frowned, shrugging his shoulders. He noticed Frank's pained expression, letting out a deep breath. "D'you need any help? I'm not great, but I-I can manage algebra."

"You'd help me?" Frank perked up, that smile returning to his lips.

"'Course." He nodded, grinning widely when Frank wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him in to his side for a weird sort of hug. Seeing as they were walking, Gerard nearly tripped over his own and Frank's feet because they were quite close together, but neither cared.

"Thank you." Frank beamed, glancing down at him, Gerard tilting his head to gaze right back. "I'll have to repay you."

"That's okay." Gerard scrunched his nose. "You don't have to."

"No, I want to." He hummed thoughtfully, pressing his lips together. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I suck at sports." He admitted, trying not to think of how unfit he was because that'd send him spiralling.

In primary school, Gerard had always been the bullied kid with the extra weight, so during his transition in to high school, he'd lost all that weight and slimmed down. One of the last things he wanted to do was to put it on again, but that still didn't mean he was going to exercise.

"Damn, me too."

Gerard furrowed his brows. "Really?"

"Yeah, I don't exercise unless I'm running away or chasing someone, 'cause otherwise I don't see the point."

They entered one of the side doors to the main building, squeezing through the crowd, weaving their way towards the correct stairs. Last time, they'd ignored the whole shitty one-way system, though this time there was a teacher amongst the crowd and they didn't particularly feel like getting yelled at so early in the morning.

"You can pay me in muffins?" Gerard suggested, raising his eyebrows.

Not once had Gerard had enough money to save on to his school account, so he usually missed out on lunch -unless he hacked in to Mikey's account.

"Muffins, huh?"

"Maybe." Gerard bit his lip, pulling away a little from Frank so it was easier to push past other people.

"Deal." Frank held his hand out for Gerard to shake, which he did, a smile across his face.

Once they arrived at U16, still alive but grumpy at the fact they actually had to be there, they parted ways as Gerard was seated on the second to last row and Frank was up front on the second row.

Luckily, they could see each other from where they were sat, which gave Frank the opportunity to make Gerard stifle a laugh by pulling stupid faces every time the teacher turned her back.

Sighing deeply, Gerard slouched in to his seat, setting his satchel on the table as he began to dig around for his maths book.

Beside him on his left was a boy named Dylan, who just so happened to love talking through an entire hour with Abby, the girl sat behind Gerard. Apparently, they thought their grades weren't important, though Gerard did and tried to focus throughout the lesson. It was difficult as they weren't the most accomplished whisperers in the world.

At one point, Gerard mustered up the courage to turn his head and hiss, "Can you be quiet?"

Dylan just scowled at him as if he was shit on the sole of his shoe, then returned to their conversation.

"Asshole." Gerard rested his chin on his palm, staring at the whiteboard at the front of the classroom.

"What d'you say?" The boy scoffed, narrowing his eyes at Gerard, who suddenly wished the ground would be kind enough to split open and bury him.

"Nothing." He replied quietly, heat rising to his cheeks as his heart pounded.

"Dickhead." Dylan quickly whacked Gerard's arm off the edge of the table, causing his upper body to jerk forwards, almost making him hit his chin on the desk. The sudden movement strained his neck, and he hissed in pain, hastily straightening up straight to massage the sore area.

A few people had averted their attention to the scene to snoop on what the hell was going on.

Taking a deep breath, Gerard tried not to retaliate by stabbing a sharpened pencil through the boys eye socket, and settled for caving in on himself, hunching his shoulders to make himself seem smaller in the slim chance he might become invisible.

Peering up through his hair, Gerard saw Frank had turned around too, mouthing the words, "You okay?"

Sighing, Gerard just nodded. Having been teased, tricked, singled out, ignored, slapped, pushed around, and laughed at his whole academic life, it was literally nothing new.

When the high and mighty assbutt Dylan glanced in Frank's direction, Frank instantly flipped his middle finger up at him, having witnessed part of what had happened. If he'd have been closer, he might have slammed the boy's head against the desk for good measure.

"Frank!" The teacher, Mrs Lister, snapped.

"Oh, sure, you see me flip him off, but you don't see that bitch hitting Gerard!" Frank huffed, exasperated as he fell back in to the chair, arms folded.

"Dylan, did you hit Gerard?" She sighed, raising her eyebrows.

"No." Dylan scowled, crossing his arms on the desk. "I wouldn't dare touch this faggot, he's probably got diseases."

That earned a few snickers from around the room, causing Gerard's face go go impossibly red as he sank further in his seat, almost completely underneath the table.

"Outside. Now." Mrs Lister pointed sharply at the door, and Dylan snatched up his bag, making sure it smacked Gerard over the head as he stomped past.

"And you, Frank."

"'Scuse me, what?" Frank batted his eyelashes innocently.

"Swearing isn't allowed." She tilted her head slightly to look down at him. "Ten minutes. Outside."

"That is so not fair." He laughed dryly. Technically, he'd only been sticking up for Gerard. Granted, he could have waited until after class to punch the daylights out of Dylan and get proper revenge, but he was a little impatient. He made a mental note to find him to punish him later.

-

"You didn't have to-to do that." Gerard said quietly, although he was extremely grateful, and beaming on the inside. "I-I'm fine."

"I totally did." Frank handed Gerard the chocolate chip muffin he'd just bought him, receiving a small "thank you" in return.

Now they had to search for a free table. As they stood at one end of the main hall, they noticed it strangely resembled a watering hole in the wilderness. A few people were using the tables as chairs, some were throwing packets or crisps and chips across the room, and the majority were behaviour relatively rowdy in the first place.

"There." Frank nudged Gerard with his elbow, then glided over to a clear table by one of the tall windows.

Outside, it was pouring, pelting raindrops like bullets, meaning the whole school was squished inside and they were fairly shocked they'd scored a full table to themselves.

Dropping on to a bench, Frank dumped his bag, then set down his badly wrapped cheese panini. Gerard scooted on beside him, keeping his bag close because the last time he'd let it go someone had booted it along the floor, and they'd kicked it around like a fucking football, taunting Gerard until it wasn't very funny anymore.

"We can stay in the library after school to do maths?" Frank took a swig of the fizzy drink he'd also bought.

"Sounds good." Gerard confirmed. The library was his favourite place to hide, he practically lived there.

"'Nd are you sure you don't want anything else?" He asked, trying to find a way to eat the panini without all the cheese falling out.

"Yeah." He unwrapped the muffin out of the cling film, then picked the chocolate chips off the top.

"Not a sandwich or a drink?"

"I don't like cheese 'nd I'm not thirsty." He shrugged, staring at the raindrops on the foggy window pane.

Peering over people's heads, he scanned the items on the cafeteria trolley. "They also have chicken paninis and cherry flavoured soda?"

"I don't eat meat and I don't like cherries." Gerard smiled nervously. "I like my muffin."

"You're a picky eater, huh?" Frank cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes at Gerard, who just shrugged again.

"That's what my dad says."

"If it's any constellation, I don't eat meat either."

"I'm glad." Gerard added in a sarcastic tone, "If you did, I'm afraid I'd have to shun you."

"Shun me?" Frank gasped dramatically, putting a hand to his chest. "No way. I'd be so on your ass, you wouldn't have a chance to shun me."

At that, a faint blush tinted Gerard's cheeks and he tried to hide his minor embarrassment behind a smile.

However he didn't suffer for long because Andy and Owen suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling them both.

"What's up, losers?" Andy grinned, perching on the edge of the table, feet on the bench. "Mind if we join?"

"No, it's fine." Frank looked at Gerard to see if he was okay with it. Even if he wasn't, Gerard wouldn't have had the guts to speak up.

"Cool." Andy tore off a piece of Frank's panini before Frank could bat his hand away, earning a solid glare in return.

"Don't touch my food, biatch." Frank stuck his tongue out at him like a child.

Unlike Andy, Owen was more reserved and polite, seating himself on the end of the bench by Andy's boots, sending Gerard an apologetic glance as he sensed he was a bit uncomfortable.

"Manners, boys." Owen tutted, lightly slapping Andy's arm on Frank's behalf.

"Was his fault." Andy retorted, fiddling with one of the many bands around his wrist.

"How's it my fault?" Frank scoffed, wearing a slightly pissed off expression.

"You weren't guarding your food properly."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mister Fucktard, I didn't know I had to guard my own food."

"It's high school, these are known rules."

Shuffling away from Andy so he could eat in peace, Frank rolled his unamsued eyes. "Fuck you."

In comparison, Owen was a lot calmer and more approachable, so Gerard actually surprised himself when he managed to strike up a conversation with him after he spotted the The Smiths badge on his bag.

Mainly about nothing in particular, Frank and Andy continued barking at each other, though there was no real anger behind it. They were both 'alpha males' and felt the need to dig at one another until somebody won.

Gerard was the total opposite, he let every body walk all over him.

[Published 29 June 2020]


End file.
